Tag Archives: collaboration

Greetings! This morning there was just the slightest tinge of fall in the air when I awoke. I love it when it is cool out. When it’s hot, it is so hard to cool off. But, when it’s cold, you can bundle up and keep warm by a fire or under lots of blankets. My favorite thing – cozy! LOL

Last week was definitely not up there among stellar weeks! LOL I’m behind again, or should I say, ‘still’! Both time-wise and financially! LOL Quite frankly, my nerves are just plain shot! Things are real crazy! So, if ya’ll don’t mind, I’m just gonna post the final parts to this month’s freebie, CU 001. I hope you have enjoyed this one and can use the goodies we’ve made!

Good Monday, All! It’s a little later that I am posting today. I had a hard time getting going this morning! My grandchildren cam and got in bed with me at 5:00 this morning. The older one, laid down and snoozed. Not the little girl! If that child is awake – everyone is! LOL So, after they left for school, granny went back and laid down for a bit!

Let’s get straight down to the freebie! This week you get another two parts to our first CU(Commercial Use) freebies. We have decided to do the CU every 3 months or so. We both enjoyed the creative process and had fun with making this month’s goodies.

As usual, click on my links below for Parts 3 and 4, then, click on Miss Edna’s preview to go to her blog to download her two parts. Miss Edna is an early poster, so, hers is always up before mine, but, if you haven’t been there yet, be sure to go!

Last week, we gave out two parts each, which are still available. This week, two more, then, next week, the final two parts. That’s two parts each so, you end up with twelve(12) parts by the time you collect them all!

Good Monday to All. I hope everyone is well and in good spirits. Wish I was. Sheesh! I am so flippin’ depressed, I hope I can get through it. Everything is gone wrong. I can’t go into it all, but, suffice to say, I don’t know what I am going to do! Oh, well! LOL

Have any of you received an e-mail from any of the file-hosting services, lately, claiming some part of your digi-files are infringing on a copyright? A few weeks ago I got an e-mail stating that 2 of my files on MediaFire were in violation of Copyright infringement. The letter, which included a bunch of legal mumbo-jumbo, included a lengthy list of all the files they were claiming as infringed. The letter open with:

Hello, My Name is Hervé Lemaire , CEO of LeakID, I am legal representative of lemaire which does business under the name Metropolitan, Authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed. You are hereby given notice valid under the DMCA copyright infringement notification requirements, 17 U.S.C.512. I am the designated agent of the owner of the copyrights of the images and audio/visual works listed below. I believe that the images and audio/visual works listed at the times cited below are being copied and distributed in a manner that has been not authorized by the owner of the copyrights, its agent or the law. All link below containing pirated versions of lemaire copyrighted works. The information in the notice is accurate, under penalty of perjury. Please remove all linksAs soon as possible, we will check them everyday. Thanks to inform us about y our actions. We appreciate your efforts toward this common goal. Very truly yours, Hervé

The files in question are part of a set of downloads for a kit I made, so, there are multiple images in the two files in question. I requested in a response that they inform me of the exact images, but, I haven’t heard back from them. I made all of the parts to the kit! That, or what I used, I knew where it came from and there were not any stipulations. I’ve never had anything like this happen to me before!

I mentioned it to an online friend and she said the same thing had happened to her! Then, this morning, while perusing a site of another scrapbooking lady in France, I saw a post about infringement and read it. The very same thing is happening to her, only she claims it is 4-Shared that sent her the e-mail.

I decided to do a little research. Apparently, this act of alerting people that their files are infringement of someone else’s rights is a cancer! I realize that copyright theft is rampant! Over at DeviantArt, it is an almost daily occurrence. Artists are closing their accounts in droves due to the outright theft of their art! One artist, with a rather unusual name, had someone open an Etsy shop, by the very same name, selling all of the artists goods for theirself! When the artist addressed the thief, the thief stated that the pieces were ‘out there’, so, what did it matter’. I guess since people post things on an open internet, it makes the things fair game in the thief’s eyes. But, to use the artist’s own name was ridiculous! The artist began removing all of her art from DA and, finally, Etsy closed the thief down.

So, I get it about the infringement. But, what if the files aren’t an infringement, as in my case and the case of the others I mention. This doesn’t even include all the rest of the files listed in the e-mail, belonging to other ‘infringers’. There were 563 infringed files on the list!

The action taken by the hosting services is to suspend the files in question. Needless to say, I am moving all of my files elsewhere. In my researching the topic online, I found several incidents of false claims that were quite scandalous. Those were big claims and one, in particular, that caught a lot of attention, proved to be a mistake. This is looking like a new way of stealing to me! What is stopping me from claiming your files as my own and alerting MediaFire or 4-Shared, providing the files are hosted on their sites? Either from lack of knowledge as to how to handle a bogus claim or from not knowing of the claim at all, you don’t do anything. Wallah! I claim them as my own and you look like a thief! That’s what is happening!

In looking over the list of files included, there are a lot of music files and games, as well as anime. Some things are obvious. like music and games. I mean, if I am hosting a hot, new artist’s music, I’m asking for trouble. It’s pretty obvious it isn’t mine! But, what about the files that are mine? I just wonder how many of this 563 files really are infringing! Somebody isn’t playing nice! I don’t have money to pay for legal fees to fight this, but, I can remove my files from MediaFire and 4-Shared. What a pain! That means I have to change all the links in my posts, too! But, that’s okay! The two sites are becoming impossible, anyway, with all the damn pop-ups! Even with my pop-up-blocker, for every download at MediaFire, I get two pop-ups.

Alrighty, then! LOL Having gotten that off my chest, let’s move on to what we are really here for – the new Freebie from Miss Edna and I! This month, we did something totally new. We made CU Okay goodies! Following a colour palette, somewhat, we have made overlays and patterns and stock images and all kinds of goodies, just for you, that may be used for Commercial Use and any other use, PU, S4H, etc. We both enjoyed creating and plan on releasing a new CU freebie once every 3 months, 4 times a year! So, do watch for those. This one is “CU001”.

We usually post QP’s for our first two(2) parts, but, not this time. Starting with Part 1, all of the offerings are free digi-elements! We will give you two(2) parts today, two(2) parts next Monday, then, the last two(2) on the following Monday. That means you’ll have a total of twelve(12) parts of new CU goodies! So, without further adieu, here are the links for the first two(2) parts.

A good morning to you! I hope everyone is well and in good spirits. Me, I’m so lost! LOL That’s really nothing new, tho! Seriously! Lately, there have been changes in my life. Big changes. I feel like I am struggling to stay sane! Ah, well! “Life goes on!” “This, too, shall pass!” And, finally, “What doesn’t kill us will only make us stronger!” I have been reminding myself of these ‘catch-phrases’ over and over. It is helping – somewhat. LOL

So! I have been looking at Adobe Exchange and some of the new features of CS6. Wow! Did you know you can download an ‘Adobe Exchange Portal’ that would enable you to visit the Exchange while inside Photoshop? I am finding things to do with PS that will help in design and my art. There are all types of things you can add on to PS! I wanted to tell ya’ll about one ‘Extension’ that I have used since CS5 that I love!

Textures appeal to me! I don’t know what it is, but, there is something about adding a texture and tweeking the ‘Blending Modes’ that just thrills me. You can come up with some awesome designs/effects! I am a sucker, too, for downloading about every ‘texture freebie’ I see. When I first started playing with PS, I looked for the panel that had the textures. LOL You can add a style, a pattern, even create a ribbon with an action, but, there was not a panel/feature that would bring up and apply textures. There’s the ‘Texturizer Filter’, but, I am speaking of something that would give the artist complete control as to what kind of texture we want.

Then, I read something about an extension that brings textures in to PS. I went on a search and found it! It’s called ‘Texture Panel’ and it works in conjunction with ‘FlyPaperTextures.com’. I know it works in CS5 and CS6, but, any other versions, I do not know. You can find the script on Dr. Brown’s Script page. Russel Brown is such an awesome guy! He’s funny and smart! I am fuzzy on who came up with the idea and all that, but, I know it is a gem!

When you download it, which I do through the Extension Manager that comes with CS, and open PS, you will find it under ‘Windows’>’Extensions’. It will open as a panel. You’ll see something like this:

The textures that come installed are from FlyPaperTextures.com. The assortment is very nice! I use them a lot! For a while they were the only textures you could use in this extension. Now, though, they have added the capability, with Texture Panel open, to navigate to your hard drive, so, now, you can use all of your own textures! Talk about easy-peasy! LOL On Dr. Brown’s Scripts page, he warns you about size. I guess larger textures take a really long time to open. It’s best to go with smaller size textures. As with anything, you’ll have to experiment.

What is cool is, when you want to use a texture, you open the Texture Panel window/palette. Either select one of the FlyPpaperTextures that comes installed, or navigate to your own with the drop-down menu in the upper right-hand corner of the palette. Once you decide on a texture, and bring it into Texture Panel, just double click on the desired texture’s thumbnail. Wallah! The texture not only opens up, but, it goes on top of the stack of layers you currently have open. What ever layer you have selected, it goes on top of it in the Layers Palette. (I have not tried to open a texture as a stand-alone document, yet.) Then, it applies a Blending Mode; ‘Multiply’ is default, but, you can always change the mode. Then, once the texture is applied, it closes. You are left with your creation plus a texture! You really must see it! It is awesome! While I have interspersed this article with links, I repeat them here:

Now, the final two parts to ‘Vintage Garden’. This wraps up the kit. Next month, we have something neat! So, do plan on coming back the second week of September! My previews are linked to the downloads. The first preview, the ‘elements’ lead to Part 5, and the second preview, the papers, lead to Part 6. Then, if you haven’t already been to Miss Edna’s Place, click on her preview to go to her blog to download her two parts. If you missed it, I made a layout using Miss Edna’s goodies for the photos we took of the children’s first day of school. I shared it a few posts back or click on this link.

Part 5

Part 6

Miss Edna’s Preview and Link (click on image)

There ya go! You’ve learned something and been able to download a freebie! So, kick back and enjoy! It has been raining here in sunny Florida for weeks! So,

Good Monday, folks! How’s the weather where you are? Here, in sunny Florida, we have been having RAIN! Lots of dark, heavy clouds, the low rumbling of far off, then, nearby thunder, with intermittent thundershowers – the kind of day where you still need the lights on. Great napping weather! I know! I have been test-driving it! LOL

Today is the first day of school for the children. I surprised myself with tears as I watched our youngest, my granddaughter, go out the door for her very first day of ‘big’ school. With her big brother, a fifth-grader, encouraging her, her steps to the truck to go became less and less sure as she started out. For days now she has been so excited! Her new outfit sat on the ready for a week now. Her cousins even did her hair yesterday in preparation for her big debut. This morning, with her over-sized backpack and her new look, all the excitement culminated into a definate hesitation about mid-driveway. Suddenly, she wasn’t as sure. Big brother urged her on enough to get her in the truck and off they went. Mom reported to me after dropping them off that she didn’t quite want Mommy to leave her. She has been used to a day care, where both children have gone since birth. In that closed, little world, she fit right in. Now, she has a bigger world to fit into. She has her brother to guide her, though, he has just this year to guard over her, as he goes on to a Middle School next year. I’m not really worried about her. This was just first-day nerves. She is a pistol! So, I wiped my tear and went and crawled back between the sheets and listened to the rain fall until I napped.

Key-Stroke Shortcut

I’d say, let’s learn another keystroke shortcut. This one is uber-easy! When you want to reset the foreground colours to black and white, which are default, click on “D”. This will put black as foreground and white as background. Need those colours reversed? Click “X”. That’s all there is to it! There are no modifier keys for these.

Did You Know…?

Now, you might wonder when you will ever need to use just black and white. Masks require black and white. When you place a mask on a layer, it does nothing since it is white. All of the image it is attached to will be visible. Once you apply a brushstroke of black to any spot on the mask, that part of the image will become transparent. Poof! Invisible! It’s hidden! If you erroneously ‘hide’ any part, all you have to do is hit “X”, to switch white back to foreground, and brush over the spot. Your image will become visible again! This is where black and white, and the “X” key, come in. I do most of my ‘erasing’ with a mask in this manner. I do this when ‘isolating’ an element from an image. Once I have everything ‘erased’ that I want, then, I can apply the mask.

Here is an image I whipped up that shows the layer with the mask and a brushed circle on the mask. Note how the space under the black is invisible? That is what masks do!

I’ve been putting together a list of places you might find enjoyable, but, will post that later this week. I do want to tell you about one, though. A Vegas Girl at Heart is a blog where the author relates stories of her family and her life with pictures and amusing anecdotes. Melissa puts her spin on nice, little goodies, as well. I like her style! I found some cute ‘Washi Tape’ pieces recently. She had been hinting of something really big. BIG, BIG! In her most recent ‘Friday Freebie’ she revealed the big surprise – an entire collection of retro elements for Project Life. While Project Life is not her baby, so to speak, she answered the need for a set of usable elements for keeping up your own project. Melissa has put together cards of several types, an alpha and even brushes for anyone to document their lives. Seeing all of her goodies makes me want to participate in PL! Maybe, one day. Her offerings are labeled ‘Retro Project Life Kit’ and can find it here. She has arranged everything by category for downloading – NINE, in all, I believe. Then, she has other fine components you may purchase from her Etsy shop. Go check it out. What I like about this kit is the ‘retro’ look. The style reminds me of my youth when ‘modern’ was creepy-looking. LOL I didn’t ever care much for those clean lines and minimal styles. To me, it looked cold and un-home-y. In retro-spect, I love it. I just didn’t like it when it was new! So, go! See what I write about!

Finally, today Miss Edna and I have two more parts for you from our August freebie, “Vintage Garden”. Last week we gave out the QP’s. This week and next we give you the papers and elements for you to design your own layouts. I gots to tell ya, this was fun! I went way above and beyond our usual target size. Though the downloads are around 40-50mbs each, they unpack to right at 100mbs each! I don’t think you will mind. But, if anyone has any problems with downloading these sizes, let me know and I will accommodate you.

Below are my previews. The first one, the ‘elements’, will link you to Part 3 and the ‘papers’ preview will link you to Part 4. I still separate everything by papers and elements in the preview, but, each part has an assortment of each. Then, below that, you’ll see Miss Edna’s preview. Click on it, if you haven’t been to her blog yet, and go collect her parts.